The present invention relates generally to the making of elongate sections of fence and the like, and more specifically, to an apparatus and method for making elongate flexible sections of a movable decorative fence which may be placed wherever desirable for landscaping purposes.
At the present time, it has become popular to landscape an area using a small fence consisting of multiple boards or pickets to delineate the boundaries of areas of landscaping. The individual pickets used are typically approximately six inches in length by three inches in width, having a thickness of nominally 3/4 of an inch, and have a substantially rectangular shape with the corners at the top end cut off and are commonly called dog-eared pickets.
While the landscaper may purchase raw wood and make his own pickets, this would involve hand cutting each picket, which would be quite time consuming, and, furthermore, the landscaper would be purchasing the wood in such small quantities that the cost of wood would become excessive. Additionally, if each individual picket was placed to form the desired fence, each picket would need to be placed into the ground at a specific depth and at a specific spacing to provide the aesthetically pleasing view of a regularly spaced fence.
This placement of the individual pickets would also be quite time consuming, and owing to the variations of the soil where the pickets are placed. For example, soft soil would be ineffective to retain the picket in the chosen upright position.
In response to the market demands, several vendors have begun to produce precut lengths of decorative picket fence for sale. A typical precut length of picket consists of the multiple pickets constructed of wood, plastic or other suitable material, disposed along the length of one or more rigid stringers. While the use of such lengths of decorative fencing allows the landscaper to purchase the precut lengths which are readily installed in the selected locations, the use of the rigid stringers limits the use of these precut lengths to straight runs of fencing, and requires the stringers to be cut or broken to produce a corner in the fence.
We have found that it is not necessary to use a rigid stringer to provide the necessary rigidity along the length of a run of decorative fence, but that sufficient rigidity can be provided using a flexible stringer. The use of a flexible stringer allows the fence to be coiled for storage and shipment, thereby enhancing the ease of handling while allowing the fence to be economically packed.
Previously, when such flexible stringer fence was made, it was made manually by spacing the pickets along a work table and manually fastening the wire stringer transversely therealong to form the fence lengths. While this method does produce the fence lengths as desired, it is a very labor intensive method and therefore an expensive method of producing the fence, which negates most of the cost savings in materials that would have accrued owing to the scale of commercial manufacturers. Additionally, manually making fence is a very repetitive, boring, and low skilled work. It is difficult, therefore, for the workers to perform the repetitive task and maintain a sufficient quality standard.
The prior art discloses several devices and methods for attaching a plurality of transverse members along longitudinal stringers. Most of these devices are drawn toward the attachment of transverse members to rigid stringers.
Such devices are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 3,763,547, issued Oct. 9, 1973, to Blakeslee for an automatic fastening machine. The Blakeslee apparatus provides a plurality of longitudinal magazines holding a supply of stringers and a transverse magazine holding a supply of transverse members, and a multiple chain drive mechanism for synchronizing the movement of the longitudinal stringers and the transverse members from the magazines to fastening stations where the collection of stringers and transverse members is stopped while the fasteners are inserted. This process is then repeated a fixed number of times, until the longitudinal stringers receive their last transverse member, thus completing the construction of one frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,549 issued March 23, 1976, to Colson, discloses a somewhat complex apparatus for producing pallets and the like by feeding the transverse members onto the moving longitudinal stringers which are advanced to a nailing station where the movement is stopped, and at least one nail is inserted therein at the juncture of each stringer and transverse member.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,951 issued Aug. 28, 1984, to Pagano for Apparatus for Nailing Pickets on Stringers discloses another variant of an apparatus for fastening transverse members to longitudinal stringers. Similarly, Pagano places transverse members on advancing rigid stringers at a predetermined spacing and advances this array to a nailing station. Pagano advances the prior art by movably mounting his nailing guns so that the nailing point of the gun traces an elliptical path allowing the nailing gun to be fired upon contact with the transverse member while moving synchronously therewith, simplifying the timing requirements of the apparatus.
Another variation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,016,623, issued to Brooks on Oct. 8, 1935. Brooks discloses a machine for attaching for a multiplicity of transverse members along the length of metal strips while forming the fasteners integral with the metal strips. The Brooks apparatus is a heavy duty unitary device which cuts and forms fastener ears along the length of metal strip and thereafter presses these fastening ears into the plurality of transverse members synchronously carried along a conveyor system. The Brooks machine requires synchronizing the movement of the metal strip to the movement of the plurality of transverse members, and, once set up, appears to be limited to a fixed spacing of transverse members having a fixed width along the length of the metal strip stringer.